Mechanical toy.



E. B. MORRISON.

MECHANICAL TOY.

APPLIGATION FILED JULY 1a, 1913.

1,085,930. Patent ed Feb. 3, 1914.

witnesses COLUMBIA PLANOGEIAPH IO-,WASHINGTON. D. c.

ELIJAH B. MORRISON, or HAVERHILL, MASSACHUSETTS.

MECHANICAL TOY;

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Feb. 3, 1914.

Application filed July 16, 1913. Serial No. 779,308.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELIJAH B. MORRISON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Haverhill, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Mechanical Toys, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a mechanical toy, the object of the invention being to provide a toy which shall be amusing to young and old and which will make an impression both on the hearing and on the sight of persons viewing the same.

The object of the invention is further to provide a toy which is capable of imparting to articles a simultaneous rotary and V1bIZ1- tory movement.

Articles such as jointed dolls being placed upon spindles are caused, when the device is operated, to dance and assume various difierent positions relatively to each other. At the same time the device makes a series of sounds caused by the blow of a hammer upon a cylindrical member, said hammer at the same time causing said cylindrical member to rotate and the spindle upon which it is mounted to vibrate. The result of this compound movement is that an article, such as a doll, placed on the upper end of the spindle will dance and having jointed legs and arms will throw its arms and legs around into a variety of, amusing and interesting positions.

The device is also adapted to rotate upon one of the spindles a carrier or a series of carriers with ribbons and iridescent mate rial attached thereto and further the device is adapted to rotate a lever on one of the spindles, said lever terminating at its opposite ends in iridescent bulbs.

The device is also adapted to move a strip of paper or other sheet material'from one spindle to another and this strip of material has upon it representations of human figures, preferably provided with jointed arms and legs,so that as this strip of sheet material is unwound from one spindle and wound up on the other, the figures pass into and out of sight and at the same time the legs and arms move as if the figures were dancing, this movement being caused by the vibratory action of the spindles upon which the strip of sheet material is coiled.

The invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts set forth in the following specification and particularly pointed out in the claims thereof.

Referring to the drawings Figure 1 is a front elevation, partly in section, of my improved mechanical toy. Fig. 2 is a detail sectional plan taken on line 22 of Fig. 1.

Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

In the drawings, 5 is a support, preferably formed as a handle, by means of which the toy can be held while being operated.

6 is a bevel gear rotatably mounted upon a stud 7 fast to the support 5. V

8 is a handle by means of which the bevel gear 6 may be rotated. The bevel gear 6 meshes with a bevel pinion 9 which is rotatably mounted upon a spindle 10 fast to the support 5. The spindle 10 is preferably formed of flexible wire and has rotatably mounted thereon an arm 11. Said arm .is preferably formed of wire and is coiled loosely around the spindle 10 at 12, thence it extends downwardly at 13 and is coiled at 14 around the spindle 10, the lower end of the wire forming said arm extending out to form an arm 15 which projects between two cars 16 on the bevel pinion 9. The spindle 10 being fast to the handle 5 and stationary, it will be seen that when the gear 6 is rotated the pinion 9 will be rotated and by means of the cars 16 the arm 11 will be rotated about the spindle 10 through the parts 15, 14-, 13 and 12 of said arm.

The arm 11 has a hammer 17 at its outer free end which constitutes a driving 1nember, said hammer being adapted to engage a cylindrical member 18, constituting a driven member, for a portion of its rotation. The cylindrical member 18 is rotatably mounted upon another spindle 19 which is formed of a piece of flexible wire bent to form' an angle, one part 20 of said wire constituting an arm, the other part 19 thereof constituting a spindle. At the point where the spindle 19 and arm'20 join, a coil. 21 is formed, to increase the resiliency of the spindle and its capability of moving'laterally. The arm 20 projects through the support 5, which is preferably formed of wood, and said arm can be moved longitudinally thereofto adjust the spindle 19 toward or away from the spindle 10, thus accurately locating the rotary driven member 18 with relation to the arm 11.

The member 18 consists of a disk of sheet metal having an annular rim 22 which is positioned relatively to the spindle 10 so that when the arm 11 is rotated the hammer 17, forming a part of said arm, will engage the rim 22 for a portion of the rotation of said arm and impart to the member 18 a rotary movement upon the spindle 19. At the same time said hammer will cause a series of sounds to be produced as it intermittently comes into engagement with said rim :22. Within the rim 22 is a disk 23 of fibrous material, such as paper or leatherboard, and this fibrous disk is held in contact with the member 18 by a collar 2 1 which. is tightly fitted to a sleeve 25 fast to the cylindrical member 18. Thus the disk 23 is clamped to the member 18 and a space 26 is provided between the disk 23 and the bottom of the member 18. The object of this construction is to render the series of sounds caused by the blow of the hammer upon the member 18 to be more pleasing to the ear than would be the case if said disk 23 were not inserted, as hereinbefore described, in the member 18, it being understood that the member 18 is formed of metal, sounds caused by the hammer striking the member 18, without the mut 'ler disk 23, are too piercing, but by inserting the disk 23 in said member 18 these sounds are mu'liied and while attracting the attention do not produce a disagreeable effect upon the hearing.

The member 18 is adjusted to such a distance from the spindle 10 that the arm 11, when it comes in contact with the member 18, will push said member slightly away from. the spindle 10 and thus impart a vibratory movement to said member and to the spindle 19 upon which it is rotatably mounted. Beneath the member 18 a drum 27 is provided which is preferably fastened to, or made a part of, said member 18 for a purpose tobe hereinafter described.

In order to prevent the member 18 from traveling longitudinally upon the spindle 19 collars 28 and 29 are provided, these collars being a tight fit upon the spindle 19 and preferably made of wood, so that they are cheap to manufacture and so that they can he slipped along the spindle 19 to any desired location and remain in position without the necessity of using a set-screw or other fastening means to keep them in position.

The upper end of the spindle 19 may be utilized to support any form of article to which it is desired to give a rotary and vibratory movement simultaneously. In the drawing (Fig. 1) a doll 30 is supported upon the spindle 19 by means of a helically wound wire 31 which closely fits the upper end of the spindle 19 and is fastened to the body port-ion of the doll 30. Said doll is provided with jointed arms 32 and jointed legs 33, so that as the helical piece 31 and the doll 30 to which it is attached rotate about the spindle 19 and at the same time have a vibratory movement imparted thereto, the arms 32 and the legs 33 are caused to assume a variety of positions. Another spindle 3 1 is provided similar to the spindle 19 and formed of flexible wire which at the lower end of said spindle is bent to form a loop 35 and then extends in the form of a horizontal arm 36 through the support 5 in which it is adjustable by reason of being a tight fit therein, so that it can be pushed. in one direction or the other to bring the spindle 34L nearer to or farther from the spindle 10 as may be desired. This spindle is provided with a doll 37 similar to the doll 30 and attached to the spindle 34: by a helically wound wire 38 in the same manner.

A driven member 39 is rotatably mounted upon the spindle 34: and is substantially the same in construction as the driven member 18 on the spindle 19. Said member 39 is driven by the arm 11 in the same manner that the member 18 is driven and has a drum 40 on the under side thereof upon which is coiled a strip of sheet material 41. The free end of the strip of sheet material is fastened to the drum 27 by a loop 68 on said strip and a hook 69 on said drum so that as said drum is rotated, by rotating the member 18 the strip will be uncoiled from the drum 4:0 and coiled upon the drum 27. The strip of sheet material 11 has thereon representations of human figures 12 which preferably are provided with jointed arms and legs pivoted to the strip 41, so that said arms and legs will assume different positions as the strip is wound upon the drum 27 from the drum 40.

It is desirable that a certain amount of friction should be applied to the drum 4-0 when the moving picture film or strip 11 is being operated and to obtain this result a friction plate 43 is provided which is supported upon a bracket 14 which, in its turn, is fastened to a collar slidably mounted on the spindle 34. lVhen it is desired to uncoil the picture strip 41 from the drum 40 and coil it upon the drum 27, the member 39, together with the drum 4:0 and spindle 3 1, is moved away from the spindle 10 by sliding the horizontal arm 36 toward the left (Fig. 1) in the handle 5. This results in the member 39 being drawn out of engagement with the arm 11 and consequently the arm 11 will rotate the member 18 and wind the paper strip on the drum 27, unwinding it from the drum 40. At this time the fric tion plate 43 is pushed upwardly against the under surface of the drum 40 by sliding the collar 45 on the spindle 3% until sufficient friction is applied to the drum 4.0 to prevnt the same from rotating too freely, thus keeping the strip 11 straight while it is being wound upon the drum 27. The member 39 and drum 40 are prevented from sliding longitudinally on the spindle 34 during the operation of the device by collars 46 and 47 which are tightly fitted on the spindle 34.

A carrier 48 is rotatably mounted upon the spindle and is preferably formed of wire which is bent to form coils 49 at the v outer ends of said carrier. Upon these coils may be mounted any article to which it is desired to give a combined rotary and vibratory movement, or, if desired, ribbons 50 of various colors may be attached to the outer ends of said carrier 48 and held in position by said coils 49. The carrier 48 may be rotated by means of a wire connection 51 which is provided with coils 52 at its opposite ends, said coils encircling loosely the spindle 10. Said wire is extended at its opposite ends to form cranks 53 and 54. The crank 53 is extended upwardly to form an arm 55 and this arm projects through a coil 56 in one of the arms of the carrier 48, so that said carrier is positively rotated upon the spindle 10. A collar 57, slidable on the spindle 10, is provided which prevents the connection 51 from moving upwardly and prevents the carrier 48 from moving downwardly. A number of carriers 58, each provided with a coil 59, may be placed upon the spindle 10 above the lever 56 and these carriers are also driven by the arm 55. Upon these carriers is coiled iridescent material 60 and above said carriers is placed another carrier 61 which is provided with a coil 62 encircling loosely the spindle 10, and at the outer ends of said carrier 61 are attached balls 63, also of iridescent material.

Collars 64 are provided on the spindle 10 which prevent the carrier 48 and the carriers 58 from traveling upward on said spindle. The crank 54 has an eye 65 at its outer end which encircles a crank 66 formed on the arm 11, so that when the arm 11 is to that of a pin wheel. The different colors and iridescent material being rapidly rotated give the effect of a variegated and iridescent colored disk.

On the extreme upper end of the spindle 10 may be mounted a doll 67 which is similar to the dolls 30 and 37, or any desired article may be placed upon the upper end of said spindle, and when the device is rotated a combined rotary and vibratory motion will be given to such article and in case of a doll with jointed arms and legs, said arms and legs will assume a great variety of diiferent positions, while the doll meantime rotates about the spindle 10.

The general operation of the device here inbefore specifically described is as follows: The'user holdsthe handle 5 in one hand and rotates the gear 6 by means of the handle 8 with his other hand, thus rotating the pinion 9. The ears 16 on the pinion 9 will rotate the arm 11 through the crank 15 and connection 13, thus causing the hammer 17, forming a part of said arm, to intermittently engage the member 18 and rotate said member at the same time. On account of the length of the arm 11 said member will be moved away from the spindle 10 and the spindles 10 and 19 will be moved away from each other, giving said spindles a vibratory movement and'by reason of this vibratory movement the doll 30 will be rotated, and at the same time vibrated and the arms 32- and 33 of said doll will assume a variety of diiierent positions while the doll rotates about the spindle 19.

hen it is desired to operate the device without the picture strip 41, said strip may be disconnected from the drum 27 and the member 39 moved near enough to the spindle 10 so that the hammer 17 on the arm 11 will engage said member 39 and rotate the same as it does the member 18 and this will give to the spindle 34 a vibratory movement which will cause the doll 37 to dance. It will be seen that this movement of the arm which engages for a part of its rotation the member 18 and for a part of its rotation the member 39 will cause the spindle 10 to be rocked or vibrated from side to side and simultaneously therewith the crank 66 will rotate the arm 54, the connection 51, the crank 53 and the arm 55 about the spindle 10, causing the carrier 48 and the carriers 58 and 6 to be rotated, together with the material 60 and the balls 63 thereon, the ribbons 50 also being rotated and, according to the speed of rotation. assuming different positions, from a vertical to a horizontal position.

When it is desired to operate the picture strip 41 the arm 36 is adjusted in the support 5 until the member 39 is drawn out of the path of the arm 11 and its hammer 17 and then said arm 11 will rotate the member 18 to rotate the drum 27 and coil the strip upon the drum 27, uncoiling it at the same time from the drum 40, said drum 40 being prevented from rotating too freely by adjusting the plate 43 to bear against the under side thereof, as hereinbefore described.

WVhen the strip 41 has been coiled upon the drum 27, as hereinbefore described, the operation may be reversed so that said strip may be coiled upon the drum 40 by moving the spindle 19 and driven member 18 out of the path of the arm 11 and by moving the driven member 39 into the path of said arm. Then by rotating the spindle 10 in the reverse direction, said strip will be wound upon the drum 40 and unwound from the drum 2?. When the strip is thus being wound on the drum 4:0 and unwound. from the drum 27, the friction plate is moved out of contact with the drum 4-0 and a similar triction plate fast to a bracket 71 which fastened to a collar 72 upon the spindle 19 is moved into contact with the drum 2? to apply friction thereto in the same manner as the plate 43 applies friction to the drum it). Thus the strip can be wound first on one drum and then, by reversing the movement of the handle 8 and adjusting the parts as hereinbeiliore described, the film can be wound back on the other drum.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire by Letters Patent to se cure is:

l. A mechanical toy having, in combination, a spindle, an arm mounted on said spindle and constituting a driving member, means adapted to rotate said driving memher, a second spindle, one of said spindles being movable laterally relatively to the other and a n'iember mounted on said second spindle adapted to be engaged by said driving member during a portion of the rotation of said dri ing member.

2. A iechanical toy having, in combination, a spindle, an arm mounted on said spindle and constituting a driving member, means adapted to rotate said driving member, a second spindle, one of said spindles being movable laterally relatively to the other and a cylindrical driven member rotatable on said second spindle and adapted to be engaged by said driving member during a portion of: the rotation of said driving member, whereby a rotary movement may be imparted to said driven member.

A mechanical toy having, in combination, a spindle, an arm rotatably mounted on said spindle and constituting a driving member, a hammer on the free end of said arm, means adapted to rotate said driving member, a second spindle, one of said spindles being movable laterally relatively to the other, a driven member consisting of a disk of sheet metal having an annular rim and a disk of fibrous material located within said rim. adjacent to said disk of sheet metal with a space between said disks, said sheet metal disk rotatably mounted on said second spindle and adapted to be engaged by said hammer during a portion of the rotation of said driving member, whereby a rotary movement may be imparted to said driven member and a. series of distinct sounds produced.

4. A. mechanical toy having, in combination, a spindle of flexible wire, an arm rotatably mounted on said spindle and constituting a driving member, means adapted to otate said driving member, a second spindle 1,0e5,sao

of flexible wire, and a disk rotatably mounted on said second spindle and adapted to be engaged by said arm, whereby a rotary motion may be imparted to said disk and a vibratory movement to said spindles.

A mechanical toy having, in combination, a spindle, an arm mounted on said spindle and constituting a driving member, means adapted to rotate said driving member, a second spindle, one of said spindles being movable laterally relatively to the other and a member mounted on said second spindle adapted to be engaged by said driving member during a portion of the rotation of said driving member, whereby a vibratory movement may be imparted to one of said spindles and an article mounted on the free end of one of said spindles.

G. A mechanical toy having, in combination, a spindle, an arm mounted on said spindle and constituting a. drivin member, means adapted to rotate said driving member, a second spindle, one of said spindles being movable laterally relatively to the other and a member mounted on said second spindle adapted to be engaged by said driw ing member, whereby a vibratory movement may be imparted. to one of said spindles and an article consisting of a plurality oil? parts pivotally connected together and rotatably mounted on the free end of one of said spindles.

7. A mechanical toy having, in combina: tion, a spindle, an arm mounted on said spindle and constituting a drivin member, means adapted to rotate said driving member, a second spindle, said spindles being movable laterally relatively to each other and a member mounted on said second spindle adapted to be engaged by said driving member during a portion of the rotation of said driving member, whereby a vibratory lllOVGHlGHt may be imparted to said spindles, a carrier rotatably mounted on the free end of said. first-named spindle and means driven by said arm adapted to impart a rotary motion to said carrier.

8. A. mechanical toy having, in combination, a spindle, an arm mounted on said. spindle and constituting a driving member, means adapted to rotate said driving member, a second spindle, said. spindles being movable laterally relatively to each other and a member mounted on said second. spindle adapted to be engaged by said driving member during a portion of the rotation of said driving member, whereby a vibratory movement may be imparted to said spindles, a carrier rotatably mounted on the tree end of said first named spindle, means driven by said arm adapted to impart arotary motion to said carrier and iridescent colored articles mounted on said carrier.

9. mechanical toy having, in combination, a spindle, an arm mounted on said spindle and constituting a driving member, means adapted to rotate said driving member, a second spindle, a driven member rotatably mounted on said second spindle and adapted to be engaged by said driving member during a portion of the rotation of said driving member, whereby a rotary movement may be imparted to said driven member, a third spindle, a rotary member mounted on said third spindle, a strip of sheet material coiled up on said last named member with representations of human figures thereon, the free end of said strip of sheet material being connected to the driven member on said second spindle, whereby said strip may be uncoiled from said third spindle and coiled up on said second spindle.

10. A. mechanical toy having, in combination, a plurality of spindles, an arm mounted on one of said spindles and constituting a driving member, means adapted to rotate said driving member, a driven member rotatably mounted on another of said spindles and adapted to be engaged by said driving member during a portion of the rotation of said driving member, whereby a rotary motion may be imparted to said driven member and a strip of sheet material coiled up on one of said spindles with representations of living figures thereon, the free end of said strip of sheet material being connected to said driven member, whereby said strip may be uncoiled from said last named spindle and coiled up on said driven member.

11. A mechanical toy having, in combination, a plurality of spindles, an arm mounted on one of said spindles and constituting a driving member, means adapted to rotate said driving member, a driven member rotatably mounted on another of said spindles and adapted to be engaged by said driving member during aportion of the rotation of said driving member, whereby a rotary mot-ion may be imparted to said driven member and a strip of sheet material coiled up on one of said spindles with representations of living figures thereon, portions of said figures being pivotally mounted on said strip of sheet material.

12. A mechanical toy having, in combination, a spindle, a support therefor, a driving member rotatably mounted on said spindle, means adapted to rotate said driving member, a flexible wire bent to form an angle, one portion of said bent wire constituting an arm and being fastened to said support, the other portion of said Wire constituting a second spindle and a driven member rotatably mounted on said second spindle, said driving member adapted to engage said driven member and imparta rotary movement thereto.

18. A mechanical toy having, in combination, a spindle, a support therefor, a driving member rotatably mounted on said spindle, means adapted to rotate said driving member, a flexible wire bent to form an angle, one portion of said bent wire constituting an arm and being fastened to said support, the other portion of said wire constituting a second spindle, said wire being bent to form a coil at the juncture of said arm and spindle, and a driven member rotatably mounted on said second spindle, said driving member adapted to engage said driven member and impart a rotary movement thereto.

14. A mechanical toy having, in combination, a spindle, an arm mounted on said spindle and constituting a driving member, means adapted to rotate said driving member, a second spindle consisting of a flexible wire, a driven member mounted on said second spindle and adapted to be engaged by sa d driving member during a portion of the rotation of said driving member and a doll with arms and legs pivoted thereto rotatably mounted on one of said spindles.

15. A mechanical toy having, in combination, a spindle, formed of a flexible wire, an article rotatably mounted on said spindle and means to impart a vibratory motion to said spindle, whereby a combined rotary and vibratory motion may be imparted to said article.

16. A mechanical toy having, in combination, a spindle, formed of a flexible wire, an article having a helically coiled wire fast thereto and closely encircling said spindle and means to impart a vibratory motion to said spindle, whereby a combined rotary and vibratory motion may be imparted to said spindle.

17. A mechanical toy having, in combination, a spindle formed of a flexible wire, a doll with arms and legs pivotally connected thereto, a helically coiled wire fast to said doll and closely encircling said spindle and means to impart a vibratory motion to said spindle whereby a combined rotary and vibratory motion may be imparted to said doll and said legs and arms caused to move into diflerent relative positions.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ELIJAH B. MORRISON.

Witnesses:

SYDNEY E. TAFT, LEONARD A. POWELL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

